We Canadians are a diverse lot. Some of us are on limited budgets or just like finding great deals. Other folks don’t mind splurging on the best restaurants or the most luxurious hotels.

Here’s a look at how to enjoy one of the world’s great vacation spots, Ka’anapali Maui, in two distinct ways.

ON A BUDGET

DOING Sure, you can spend US$100 or more and see great South Pacific culture on display at a hotel or luau. But the Ka’anapali Beach Hotel puts on a free Hawaiian dancing and musical show every evening that anyone can attend, even folks who aren’t staying at the hotel. The lovely, outdoors, Whalers Village shopping centre next door offers free hula lessons every afternoon. Need some exercise in the sun? It’s only $25 to rent a stand-up paddleboard for an hour at the Hale Huaka’i in front of the Ka’anapali Beach Hotel and $15 per hour after that. Lessons are $87 per person. Ka’anapali is a fine place for it, too, with clear blue waters and (usually) gentle, rolling waves. Swimming, body-surfing and snorkelling at Ka’anapali Beach are, of course, free. The best snorkelling is up at Black Rock in the middle of the beach, where you’ll often spot turtles bobbing in the clear, blue water. And there’s no charge to stroll and people-watch along the beach or the beach walkway that snakes its way along the ocean for several kilometers on either side of Black Rock.

DINING AND DRINKING Food can be expensive on Maui, but there’s plenty of good value. On the main highway, CJ’s serves up massive breakfasts and big sandwiches at lunch. It’s often cited as one of the best values on the island. Hank’s Haute Dog Stand at the Sheraton Maui features Portuguese sausages with pineapple, bratwursts and other great dogs from $10.95, including fries. Not super cheap but tasty. A better value with more interesting food might be the nearby Hula Grill, where you can get two fish tacos and tortilla chips for $19, or a half-pound burger and fries for $16. The Sheraton Maui serves up lovely Mai Tais and other cocktails right on Ka’anapali Beach for as little as $12. Settle in an hour before sunset to listen to the strains of lovely Hawaiian music and then catch the torch-lighting ceremony, where they have a fine-looking, shirtless young fellow light tiki torches along the water and then out on Black Rock, a series of jagged, volcanic rocks jutting out into the ocean. He finishes the ceremony by bowing to the gods and then diving off the rocks and into the Pacific. Touristy but lovely.

STAYING The Ka’anapali Beach Hotel bills itself as the most Hawaiian hotel in the state. It’s a bold statement, but they can back it up. Guests can partake in free lei-making or ukulele lessons and other activities. Departing visitors are serenaded every morning with hourly ceremonies featuring a special song and the presentation of kukui nut leis. The nuts are all dark, but each time you come back to the hotel to stay you’re given a white nut as a replacement. The rooms aren’t fancy but they’re very nice, and the grounds are spacious, with a nice pool, a model of an authentic Hawaiian outrigger canoe that hotel workers built and beautiful plumeria and palm trees on a deep-green lawn. Best of all, one of the world’s top beaches is on your front door, along with great shopping and restaurants. Rooms for May using the Friends Rate were recently listed from US$211 per night including a compact rental car.

LIVE IT UP

DOING A snorkel and sailing trip on the Trilogy III is a popular activity at Ka’anapali. My wife and I did this two weeks ago, taking a sleek, new catamaran north to a couple of quiet, beautiful bays for fine snorkelling. Our group spotted black and yellow and white striped Moorish Idols, as well as turtles and wildly colourful triggerfish, including the humuhumunukunukuapua’a: Hawaii’s state fish. The ship provided us with excellent masks, snorkels and fins. We also were served a grilled chicken lunch, snacks and trays of fresh fruit. There was coffee, soda and juice, as well as (on the way back) Molokai Mules (a take on the Moscow Mule) and Lanai Mai Tai’s. A five-hour trip is US$129 for adults, with discounts for teens and children. . Spa Helani at the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas offers up a variety of spa treatments. My wife and I had a tremendous couples massage with a sea salt scrub that left our skin fresh and clean, plus a relaxing massage where they pressed warm pouches of sand shipped in from Tahiti onto our tired muscles. The Couple’s Ritual 80-minute massage is listed at US$375 for two people.

DINING AND DRINKING Japengo at the Hyatt Regency has a stunning outdoor terrace overlooking Ka’anapali Beach, and the food is out of this world good. The grilled mahi mahi (US$43) is topped with tasty lemongrass beurre blanc and comes with a tasty salad featuring young coconut. Try the Kung Pao duck meatballs (five plump ones for $16) as an appetizer, or the Hamachi tuna sashimi with watermelon ($20). . Mauka Makai is a lovely, poolside restaurant at the Westin Nanea. Try the perfectly cooked swordfish or, for something different, the tasty, moist fried chicken confit. Mains from around US$34. They also make a great Mai Tai and wonderful Portuguese-style brioche French toast with macadamia nuts at breakfast. Roy’s Ka’anapali is run by famed Hawaiian chef Roy Yamaguchi. Try the sizable dim sum canoe appetizer sample for two for $37, with wonderful marinated ahi tuna poke, shrimp sticks, chicken pot stickers, pork and shrimp lumpia and meaty Hawaiian baby back ribs.

STAYING The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas on quiet north Ka’anapali Beach opened just this month, with modern and spacious units. It’s a wonderful family spot with shallow kiddie pools, tons of colourful spray guns and a small slide. There's also an adult pool. Units have full kitchens and there are poolside barbeques so you can cook your own dinner or lunch. We got to try a poolside cabana for the day, which allowed me to watch the Senators beat the Rangers in game six of their NHL playoff series. The views of the ocean and the nearby islands of Lana’I and Moloka’i are to die for. They have lagoons surrounded by palm trees and white and deep red plumeria. One-bedroom villas of 840 square feet with a king bed and queen sofa bed from around $379.